Say the word solitaire and most people picture Klondike, but it is only one member of a large family, and its two most famous siblings play very differently. Spider and FreeCell share Klondike's cards and its patient, one-player spirit, yet each bends the rules in ways that reward a different kind of thinking. Comparing Klondike vs Spider vs FreeCell helps you understand what makes each one tick and which suits your mood on any given day.
This guide lays the three out side by side: how they are dealt, what the goal is, how hard each plays, and how much of the outcome comes down to luck versus skill. All three are free to play here, so open a game of each as you read and feel the differences directly rather than just reading about them.
The Quick Overview
Before the details, here is the shape of each game in a sentence. Klondike is the classic: one deck, seven columns, build up four foundations by suit. Spider is the marathon: two decks, ten columns, build long same-suit runs that get removed. FreeCell is the puzzle: one deck, every card visible, four free cells for temporary storage, and almost every deal solvable. Each is a distinct experience despite the shared cards. What unites them is the goal of imposing order on a shuffled deck; what divides them is how much the deck hides from you and how much room you are given to manoeuvre. Keep those two dials, hidden information and workspace, in mind as you read, and the personality of each game will make immediate sense.
Klondike: The Classic
Klondike is the baseline against which the others are measured, and the one most players learn first.
Setup and Goal
Klondike deals one 52-card deck into seven staircased columns, with most cards face down, and keeps the rest in a stock you draw from. You build the tableau down in alternating colours and send cards up to four foundations, each running Ace to King in one suit. Clear all four foundations to win. The full details are in our guide to the Klondike solitaire rules.
Luck and Skill
Klondike blends both. Face-down cards and a hidden stock mean you play with incomplete information, so luck plays a real part, but skilful play still wins far more deals than careless play. Not every deal is winnable, a topic we cover in are all Klondike games winnable. Play it on the Klondike solitaire board.
Spider: The Two-Deck Marathon
Spider is the biggest of the three, both in cards and in scope, and it feels like a longer campaign than a single hand.
Setup and Goal
Spider uses two decks, 104 cards, dealt across ten columns. Instead of foundations, you build descending runs within the tableau, and whenever you complete a full run from King down to Ace in a single suit, that run is removed from the board. Clear all eight runs to win. When you are stuck, tapping the stock deals a fresh card onto every column at once, which can rescue or ruin your position.
Difficulty and Suits
Spider's difficulty is adjustable through the number of suits in play. The one-suit game is gentle and good for learning, the two-suit game is a solid challenge, and the four-suit game is genuinely demanding. That range makes Spider approachable for newcomers and punishing for experts alike. Try it on the Spider solitaire board and start with fewer suits.
FreeCell: The Game of Skill
FreeCell is the thinking player's solitaire, because it strips away most of the luck that defines Klondike.
Setup and Goal
FreeCell deals a single 52-card deck into eight columns with every card face up from the start, so there is no hidden information at all. Four free cells sit to one side, each able to hold a single card as temporary storage. You build the tableau down in alternating colours, as in Klondike, and send cards up to four foundations by suit. The free cells give you room to manoeuvre that Klondike never offers.
Why Nearly Every Deal Is Winnable
Because you can see every card and park cards in the free cells, the vast majority of FreeCell deals are solvable, and only a tiny handful of arrangements are known to be impossible. That makes FreeCell a near-pure test of skill: if you lose, it is almost always your play rather than the deal. Try it on the FreeCell solitaire board.
Side by Side: The Key Differences
Pulling the three together, the contrasts stand out clearly.
- Decks: Klondike and FreeCell use one deck; Spider uses two.
- Columns: Klondike has seven, FreeCell has eight, Spider has ten.
- Hidden cards: Klondike and Spider hide face-down cards; FreeCell shows everything.
- The goal: Klondike and FreeCell build up four foundations by suit; Spider removes completed King-to-Ace runs.
- Extra tools: FreeCell adds four free cells; Klondike has a draw stock; Spider deals a full row from the stock.
- Luck versus skill: FreeCell is nearly all skill, Klondike is a mix, and Spider varies with the suit count.
If any of those terms is unfamiliar, the solitaire terms glossary defines them all in plain language.
Which Should You Play?
The best choice depends on what you are after right now. Use this quick guide.
- Want the timeless classic? Play Klondike, the game everyone means by solitaire.
- Want a longer, meatier session? Play Spider, and dial the suit count to match your skill.
- Want a pure logic puzzle with almost no luck? Play FreeCell, where skill nearly always decides.
- Learning solitaire for the first time? Start with Klondike, then try one-suit Spider.
- Want to sharpen your planning? FreeCell will stretch your forward-thinking the most.
There is no single best game; each rewards a different frame of mind. Many players keep all three in rotation and switch depending on how much time and focus they have.
Shared Skills Across All Three
Whichever you favour, the core habits transfer. Exposing hidden cards, keeping columns flexible, and thinking a move or two ahead help in every variant, as our Klondike strategy tips explain. Learn one well and the others come faster, because they are variations on a single elegant theme of ordering cards from chaos into neat, complete sequences.
The differences are really about where each game puts the pressure. Klondike tests how you cope with hidden information and a restricted stock. Spider tests stamina and the discipline of keeping runs in the right suit across a huge board. FreeCell tests pure forward planning, since nothing is hidden and every loss is yours to own. Playing all three in rotation builds a more complete set of skills than any one game can, because each strengthens a different mental muscle. Many players find that time spent on FreeCell sharpens their Klondike planning, while Spider trains the patience that helps everywhere.
Conclusion
Klondike, Spider, and FreeCell are three faces of the same patience tradition. Klondike is the one-deck classic that mixes luck and skill; Spider is the two-deck marathon whose difficulty scales with its suits; and FreeCell is the fully visible puzzle where almost every deal is winnable and skill rules. Try all three, notice which frame of mind each suits, and keep the ones you love in rotation. Start now with Spider solitaire, switch to the classic Klondike solitaire anytime, and find every game and guide on the klondikesolitaire.info homepage.